


Early Morning Wake-Up Call

by deadhuntress



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Cat, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Mechanic Dean, Misunderstandings, Nurse Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 10:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7614097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadhuntress/pseuds/deadhuntress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the prompt: Okay, I don’t want to be that jerk but our building has a strict No Pet Policy and your cat will not stop meowing and I WILL report you and oh no you’re cute</p><p>In which Dean's neighbor's cat keeps waking him up in the middle of the night, and knocking on said neighbor's door to complain about the situation doesn't go the way Dean expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Early Morning Wake-Up Call

_Mrow_.

Dean blinked and looked around, trying to get his bearings in the dark room as he was unceremoniously jerked out of his dreams.

 _Meooww_.

He heard it again and groaned. Every night this week, he had been woken up by the same cat, owned by some idiot who apparently didn't realize that this building had a No Pets policy. He glanced at his alarm clock and sure enough, it was midnight, right on schedule. He had no clue why this cat decided to meow really loudly at midnight every night, but it had been going on for a week and Dean was really starting to get pissed. He worked at his uncle’s auto parts shop and taught mechanics classes at the local community college, which meant he had a full schedule that required sleep – something he’d been sorely lacking recently. Thankfully, after a few minutes, the cat’s meowing finally started to die down, and he guessed it was safe to attempt to sleep again, grumbling something about asshole neighbors with their asshole cats as he slowly drifted off into sleep for the second time that night.

\---

Sunlight poured in through the window when Dean woke up the next morning. He was worried for a second that he was late for work, but then he remembered that it was Saturday. No work to go to or classes to teach. He sighed gratefully, sinking deeper into his mattress, determined to savor his time before the sun completely rose.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he heard it: the unmistakable _mrow_ of his neighbor’s feline.

“That’s it!” he grumbled, deciding to go and give this neighbor a piece of his mind. He climbed out of bed and grabbed the first clean clothes he saw, putting them on quickly and leaving his apartment, determined to voice his complaints.

He knocked loudly and impatiently on the door of the apartment next to his, but no one answered, so he banged harder until finally the door opened.

Dean had been prepared to start his lecture right away, but the sight of the man before him swept all words from his mouth. The guy looked like he was exhausted and had just woken up, dressed in old flannel pajama pants and a faded navy blue t-shirt and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. That wasn’t what struck Dean, though. The guy was fucking gorgeous, with dark, sleep-mussed hair that Dean suspected was never quite under control, a strong athletic build, and the most stunning ocean-blue eyes Dean had ever seen.

Under any normal circumstances, Dean would be flirting like crazy, but these weren’t normal circumstances, he reminded himself. No, this was war, and he’d be damned if he left without telling this guy off like he’d planned. His traitorous mind, however, leapt to other ideas involving romantic dinner dates, movie nights spent curled up together under a blanket, heated and passionate love-making, waking up to those striking blue eyes every morn–  _No_ , Dean told himself. He had to concentrate. He’d been standing there awkwardly for too long, and he struggled to say something, anything.

“Hi.” Well that was a start. Not a very good one, but a start nonetheless.

“Hi,” the guy responded slowly, tilting his head and gazing at Dean curiously. “May I help you?”

“Uh,” Dean said stupidly. Just Dean’s luck that the man had a gloriously deep voice and adorable head-tilt to go along with the rest of his unfair attractiveness. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and remembered what he had come over to say.

“Your cat,” he said, and  _Wow, Dean_ , he thought.  _You really have a way with words._

He finally got his thoughts back on track. “Your cat,” he repeated, “has meowed very loudly at midnight every single night this week, which, funnily enough, makes it extremely hard to sleep. This building doesn't even  _allow_  pets, so I don’t know why you have one in the first place, but you can either get your cat to shut up or I’ll report you.”

He finished, looked back at the guy, and blinked. While he’d been talking, the cat in question had apparently wandered in and was now in the arms of the man in front of him. Well, shit. Dean felt his resolve wavering as he stared at not one but two adorable faces gazing at him innocently. The two of them could give his younger brother Sammy a run for his money.

“I apologize,” the man said, sincerely. “I had no idea that Tulip was meowing loudly enough to wake anyone.”

“Well, I live next door, so…” Dean trailed off. _He named his cat_ Tulip _?_ he thought.

“I really am sorry,” the guy said. “I’m a nurse, so I have weird shifts, and this week I’ve been getting home at midnight. I’ve been working a lot and she misses me, so she gets excited when I come home. And I do have permission to have her here, actually. I pay extra rent, but I don’t mind. I could never give her up,” he added, giving her an affectionate kiss on the top of her head.

“Oh,” Dean said, feeling like a jerk all of a sudden. He knew it wasn’t this guy’s fault that he was scheduled for late night shifts, and apparently he wasn’t breaking the rules either.

“If it makes you feel better,” the guy offered, “that schedule was only for this week. I go back to my normal one on Monday, so I won’t be getting home at midnight anymore.”

Dean nodded, feeling like he should be the one apologizing. “I’m sorry, um.” He stopped, realizing he didn’t know the man’s name.

“Castiel,” the other man supplied.

“Right. I’m sorry I got so mad at you, Castiel,” Dean said. “It’s not really your fault.”

“Call me Cas,” he replied, then continued. “It’s all right. No hard feelings.” He offered one hand to shake awkwardly, as he was still holding the cat.

“I’m Dean,” Dean said, taking the hand.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas replied. “Would you like to come inside? I can make coffee if you’d like, and I have some eggs and cheese for omelets.”

Dean’s stomach growled as he remembered that he hadn’t eaten anything. “That sounds great, Cas,” he replied, but before either of them could say anything else, he sneezed, twice. “Allergies,” he said with a sigh, gesturing to the cat.

“Oh, god, I’m sorry,” Cas said, gently placing the cat on the ground before putting a hand on Dean’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be fine, I just need some medicine.” Dean wasn’t about to give up his chance to get to know this guy. “How about you come over to my place instead and I’ll make _you_ breakfast to apologize for being a jerk. After all, I was the one who woke you up just to yell at you.”

Cas smiled at that and said, “Okay. Just let me change and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

 

**One year later…**

Dean shifted under the covers of his bed, waiting patiently in the dark for what he knew was coming. The door to the bedroom opened and a man walked in, undressing as he did, followed closely by a brown tabby cat. _Mrow_ , the cat said happily, and Dean smiled. The bed sank as the man laid down on it and Dean felt the unmistakable thump of a cat landing beside him.

“Long shift?” Dean asked, greeting Cas with a gentle kiss and pulling him into his arms.

“Mhmm,” Cas mumbled, nuzzling into Dean’s side. “So tired.”

“Just relax, sweetheart, and get some sleep,” Dean said, giving the man a kiss on the forehead. He felt the other man’s breathing slow and allowed himself to drift off again as well, and together, two men and a cat slept until morning.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on Tumblr at [thetideseternaltune](http://thetideseternaltune.tumblr.com/) (main blog) or [hunterangelkisses](http://hunterangelkisses.tumblr.com/) (SPN sideblog)!


End file.
